Newbie Needs the Experts. Mixing brands on shower valves.

Delta seems to be the preferred shower valve here & I defer to those who know best. Problem is that Delta doesn't make one in statin nickel to match my remodel & only offers two nickel products that I don't like. Hard to believe such a popular brand has so few options. Should I buy the Delta valve & rough in & get a diffferent brand showerhead & trim? Will this work? Guess it will be more expensive. If this won't work, what's the next preferred brand? Sorry, don't know anything about plumbing.

Why are there so few two handle shower faucets? Never had any problems with the ones I currently have & there seems to be cartridge issues with one handle types.

Dual handle shower valves haven passed plumbing code for over ten years. That's why you don't see two handle valves much anymore.
If you use a two handle valve, a balancer can be installed ahead of it if it's being inspected. However, it makes much more sense to install a new pressure balanced single handle. That is the current product being installed, and parts are easy to find for those.

Can you mix brands on a single installation? No. The valve trim needs to be the same brand as the body of the faucet.

Maybe a dumb question: When you say "satin nickel" do you mean "brushed nickel"? If not, then neither Delta, Pfister, Moen or even the dreaded Kohler offer a "satin nickel" shower trim.

Reading through the comments on the thread here about "which shower valve is best", which it sounds like you read already, the Moen Posi-temp balancing valve seems to be the number two favorite for quality and reliability (if not ease of repair) following the Delta. Moen has a gaggle of brushed nickel shower trim, shown on its web site, which allows you to select a finish and see all trim for the Posi-temp that comes in that finish.

The consensus on Delta is pretty remarkable. The great HJ said in one thread that he only furnishes and installs the Delta 1700 series, and others fall in line with their praise for the Delta. You can be sure that I will be going out of my way to use a Delta PB valve on our next bath-remodel project, if the trim is even close to what we are looking for.

Manufacturers don't necessarily WANT you to mix and match...they want to sell you all their stuff. SO, everyone has different names...satin nickel, brushed nickel, satin chrome, etc etc and there is no 'standard' as to what those finishes look like.

To be clear, you CAN use any shower head or tub spout...those items do not interface with the brand-specific valve. They just connect to standard pluming fittings....shower arm pipe, tub elbow etc.

Any single handle valve is multipurpose...tub only, shower only, or both. You need to accept that two handle valves are dinosaurs....allowed by code for REPAIR USE only. If you open up your wall, or do much in the way of other upgrades in the bathroom, your inspector will likely rule that a remodel, and require the scald protection.

You just wont find much two handle, and mostly it will all be chrome. Moen does not have one, I am surprised Delta still does. Are you getting that online from a surplus plumbing outlet.

quote; Delta offers no nickel finishes (other than polished) for a shower only. I don't need a tub valve

You are being misinformed. EVERY Delta valve can be tub only, shower only, or tub and shower. The difference is which "trim set" you purchase. As far as styles, my catalog shows TWENTY different shower only trims, and Delta calls theirs "Brilliance Stainless".

So, I just need to purchase the valve & separate trim in the finish I want? Hard to tell from Delta's site the difference between their brushed nickel & stainless. BN looks darker. Have you installed Brillance Stainless? I need your catalog

Thanks, hj!

(Apologies for the dulplication. Didn't see my comment & couldn't delete the post when it appeared twice. How to delete? Don't see that on the edit function.)

In a big box store, they sell a complete package that contains both the rough-in valve and the trim. In many (most) plumbing supply houses, they sell the rough-in valve and trim as separate pieces. The cartridge comes in the trim package. The preferred rough-in valve is the R10000 which fits many of the trim packages.

" Brilliance" is Delta's generic buzz phrase for faucet finishes. The best way to describe the colors.....anything which says "stainless" is usually very silvery color, while anything with nickel in the name will be darker, have some yellowish tones. They are very different side by side\

Delta customer service said their stainless is a nickel finish & their version of nickel. Um, really? Not buying that story. Then why do they also have a darker brushed nickel finish? Odd that they offer more in their stainless than in nickel. Hard to imagine that's a more popular one.

My catalog ONLY shows the Brillance Stainless. No nickel, and their "white finish" appears to be "Artic Stainless". In most cases, Satin Nickel and Brushed Stainless are almost interchangeable, unless they are being installed next to each other. As a practical matter, there is no "standard" and if you mix manufacturers they will NOT match regardless of what you call the color.